Wednesday, June 6, 2012

U.S. Real Estate Prices Up For The Year

U.S. real estate prices are up so far in 2012, according to
figures from Clear Capital, and they are expect to increase another 1.2%
through the rest of the year. The only region that didn't show price
increases was the Midwest - which fell 2.7% during the first quarter of
2012. The best MSA during the first quarter was Phoenix, which showed
price increases of 3.8% more than the next best MSA. The worst MSA was
Milwaukee, which fell 12.5% during the quarter. For more on this,
continue reading the following article from Property Wire.

National residential property prices in the United States increased
in the three months to the end of April but analysts expect
them to increase further by 1.2% over the rest of 2012.

The latest figures from Clear Capital shows that all regions except the
Midwest saw mild quarterly price gains. The West, South and Northeast
saw both quarterly and yearly price gains and the only area with price
declines was the Midwest, but that area's declines were less severe when
compared to April's report.

‘Markets have continued to show signs of bottoming out. The projections
we made at the beginning of the year are playing out and we expect to
see the nation gain just over 1% through the year's end,’ said Alex
Villacorta, director of research and analytics.

‘Home prices continue to show relative strength in April with virtually
no change over the short term and tapering losses over the longer term.
There has been quite a bit of buzz in the housing industry surrounding
turning REOs into rentals. Our data suggests early activity from these
programs could be starting to take effect, with national REO only home
price gains on a price per square foot basis vastly outpacing fair
market prices on a national level,’ he explained.

‘Should investor interest continue to drive the expansion of REO to
rental programs over the next several months, there could be a
significant impact on the market overall in terms of providing a rising
floor to home values,’ he added.

Quarter on quarter results were notable only in how little change was
seen this month, with numbers very similar with the price changes
reported last month.

The nation lost a little ground with quarterly losses of 0.2%, showing continuing price stability over previous months' reports.

For the past five months, price movement at the regional level has
settled in under 1% on a quarterly basis except in the Midwest, which
the firm said is a level of stability not seen for a decade.

As the West, Northeast, and South are all in positive territory,
significant losses in the Midwest are pulling down national numbers. The
Midwest lost 2.7% of its value over the quarter, which is the fifth
month of declines for this beleaguered region. Despite mild winter
weather and an early spring, it wasn’t enough to kick off a home buying
season in this region.

Looking at yearly results, prices are down 1% compared to last year,
which is an improvement over the -1.4% loss posted in April’s Market
Report.

The Northeast, a market that has held up well throughout the housing
crisis, posted a light 0.7% increase in prices year on year, while the
rest of the regions are still trying to climb back into positive
territory.

The West and South, while still negative for the year, also saw
improvements over last month’s report, shrinking their annual losses by
1.4% and 0.3% respectively.

Midwest year on year performance paints a very different picture, a loss
of 4%, which is deeper than last month’s yearly loss of 3.8%.

The Phoenix market, hard hit in the housing meltdown, is starting to
sizzle with quarterly values increasing 3.8% more than the next highest
MSA. Phoenix also tops the Highest Performing 15 list for the second
month and has been either leading or in second spot on this list since
February. However, with peak to current values at -58.2%, there is still
a long way to go for Phoenix to see the values it once had.

The Milwaukee MSA is the hardest hit market in April with a dramatic
quarterly loss of 12.5%. This loss is 5% more than the second hardest
hit MSA, Columbus, Ohio, which posted a loss of 7.5%.

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